Local foreclosure filings continue to fall

FREEPORT — The number of new foreclosures filed so far in the Freeport area in 2013 is down nearly 25 percent.

Through October, there have been 348 new foreclosure cases filed in Stephenson, Ogle and Jo Daviess counties. There were 463 cases filed in the first 10 months of 2012.

The big declines have come in Ogle and Stephenson counties where new foreclosure cases are down 31 percent and 28 percent. In Jo Daviess County, foreclosure cases actually are up nearly 9 percent.

The state raised the costs to file foreclosure cases on banks at the beginning of July, perhaps causing some of the decline. Still, the number of foreclosure filings has been down year over year at least 15 percent every month this year.